As examples of an absorbent article that absorbs excreted liquid such as urine or menstrual blood, disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, and the like are used. These absorbent articles include an absorbent body 1 that is produced by forming pulp fibers 2 into a predetermined shape, the pulp fibers 2 serving as an example of liquid absorbent materials.
The absorbent body 1 is shaped by a fiber depositing apparatus 10 in a production line (see FIG. 1, for example). The fiber depositing apparatus 10 has a rotating drum 20. While rotating the rotating drum 20 in a circumferential direction Dc, a mixed air 3 in which the pulp fibers 2 are mixed is supplied toward an outer circumferential surface 20a of the rotating drum 20. Thereby, the pulp fibers 2 are deposited in recessed shaping molds 21 on the outer circumferential surface 20a. Thereafter, the deposited pulp fibers 2 are released from the shaping molds 21, and thus absorbent bodies 1 are shaped.
Each shaping mold 21 is formed by, for example, extending an air-permeable member 50 across an opening portion 27a from the inside of the rotating drum 20, the opening portion 27a penetrating the outer circumferential surface 20a of the rotating drum 20. This air-permeable member 50 has as its main body an appropriate plate material, and a plurality of air holes 50h are formed through the plate material in a thickness direction, thereby giving air permeability to the air-permeable member 50.
During the deposition, substantially only the air of the mixed air 3 is sucked from the outside to the inside of the rotating drum 20 through the air-permeable member 50, and the pulp fibers 2 of the mixed air 3 are deposited on the air-permeable member 50. On the other hand, during the release, air is discharged from the inside to the outside of the rotating drum 20 through the air-permeable member 50, and thus the pulp fibers 2 that have accumulated in the shaping mold 21 are removed as an absorbent body 1 (PLT 1).